When Two Snakes Swallow Each Other: A Poem for Children

Thinley Zangmo walked to the school
A little late, but as usual
There was a small brook and a pool
And a *Lakhang on her way
A strange thing she saw that Monday
Two snakes were there on her way!
They were eating one another
One was swallowing the other’s tail
It looked a circle on the ground
They were eating with no sound!

She ran to her school nearby
And told to the students who passed by.
‘I saw two snakes, eating each other
Believe me not, I don’t bother.”
But the school bell rang, the assembly began
And they had no time to go to the Lakhang.

Until recess, in the class,
She thought of the snakes, poor lass!
For every bell, teachers came and went
But her ear she did not lend
During the break, she, with her friends
Ran to the Lakhang to see the snakes.

Alas! They could not see them there
She looked at the spot, it was bare.
She was sad and about to cry
Yet to explain she did not try
A naughty girl said, “I’m a fool
For coming this short way from the school
They swallowed each other and finished
And that is how they have vanished!”

*Lakhang- small temple in Bhutan
[Moral: every complicated problem has simple, easily understandable, wrong answer]
More articles: http://www.wikinut.com/author~unmhoi/John-Kolyav/